EUROPEAN TEAL 195 



will they splash in among the wooden blocks. They are welcome addi- 

 tions to any bag and, among the Pond Ducks, rank after only the Mallard 

 and Black as desirable table birds. 



In the spring Pintails are among the earliest of migrants and with 

 the first sign of the break-up of the ice they start their northward trek. 

 Late February and early March sees them on their way, and they often 

 reach their breeding grounds in Alaska before the beginning of May. 

 Ready as they are to face the ice and cold of early spring, Pintails, 

 strangely enough, are among the first to flee from the approaching cold 

 of winter, and in the autumn are among the earliest of migrants; the 

 first arrivals come along with the tender little Blue- winged Teals. Their 

 winter, on this continent, is spent on the warm seacoasts of the Southern 

 States and anywhere inland on the marshes and swamps south of the 

 frost line. The summer breeding range of the Pintail is a wide one; 

 the large majority nests in the subarctic regions, and next in preference 

 come the prairie regions of the interior. It may be found, however, 

 breeding here and there across the continent from New Brunswick to 

 central British Columbia and California. 



European Teal 



Nettion crecca 



(Anas crecca crecca, of Peters) 

 (net-i-on, krek-ka; a-nas) 



Colour Plate No. 12. 



SCIENTIFIC NAME 



Nettion, Greek, meaning a duckling, a small duck, diminutive of netta, a 

 duck; crecca, Latin, to express the sound, crex, crake, quack; anas, Latin, mean- 

 ing a duck. 



COLLOQUIAL NAMES 



None in North America. 



DESCRIPTION 



ADULT MALE. WINTER PLUMAGE: Head and upper neck, chestnut, dusky on 

 chin, throat and forehead; a glossy green patch including the eye and extending 

 backwards, separated from its fellow by black patch on hind neck and bordered 

 by a narrow, pale line, often clear white, usually extending forward to base of 

 bill; crest, chestnut, longer feathers purplish black; lower neck, like back; bill, 

 black, about as long as head, small and slender; eye, dark brown. Body. Back and 

 sides, vermiculated with dusky and white (vermiculations coarser than on male 

 Green-winged Teal); scapulars like back, but with the longer feathers black and 

 white, producing a black-and-white line along sides of back; (lacks vertical white 

 bar on body in front of wing, present in male Green winged Teal); rump, slaty 

 brown; chest, pinkish buff, spotted with dusky; breast, whitish, often stained with 

 rusty; belly, whitish, with fine vermiculations of dusky; black bar on flank at 

 base of tail; fret, grey, greenish, or brownish; webs, dusky. Tail, slaty brown, 



